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French Museums Open

The best-known museums in France, including the Musée d’Orsay and the Palace of Versailles, were open on Sunday after a four-day strike that disrupted about a dozen institutions and tourist sites. The strike began two weeks ago at the Pompidou Center, which remained closed on Sunday for a 13th day, and was called in response to a government plan to reduce the large state work force by replacing only one of every two workers who retire. The unions said this policy would devastate the Pompidou Center because 44 percent of its work force is due to retire in the next decade. On Friday two-thirds of the Louvre reopened, while the Musée d’Orsay went back into business on Sunday. “It’s just a pause in the conflict,” said Franck Guillaumet, who represents the major union at the Pompidou Center.